Depression? No.

Resolution in the face of the poll to rally the forces and vanquish the unbeatable foe? No.

Calling it all a BushCo conspiracy to make Risch look better and pointing out a major flaw in the poll? No.

Riffing Risch’s press release announcing a 25 + point lead for having a typo in the headline? Yes.

Actually, all things considered. Quite disappointing, ain’t it?

JG8D69D

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUafUc1Z_q8[/youtube]

Okay, they may be polar opposites, but they both want to beat Jim Risch, and their plan is to hold ten debates across the State to attract attention. For his part, Lieutenant Governor Risch’s campaign has said there’s one scheduled debate on October 21st and they’re working on others.

The Risch campaign is correct that asking for a ton of debates is the tactic of a campaign that’s not doing well. The more debates you have, the more likely a candidate is to slip and have a huge gaffe that his opponents can take advantage of. If you’re behind, you want as many debates as possible, if you’re ahead, you’ll want fewer. This is life.

I have sympathies both ways. In an ideal world, we’d have a high number of Senate debates. They’d be held in larger and medium towns. People in Boise would be so concerned to hear what the candidates had to say that we would pack out Bronco Stadium. Then, it’d be the same thing in the Idaho Center in Nampa.

Reality? If 3,000 people total see the ten Unger-Madison-er-Rammell-LaRocco debates, it’ll be a miracle. Unlike the debate on October 21, none of these debates will be televised. The vast majority of Idahoans won’t even know about the debates and perhaps 10-20% of us will read a blurb in the newspaper about the debate.  What will  the blurb have in it? A couple shots across the bow at Jim Risch, some brief cerebral ideological debate, and then on to the next story.

As a candidate, it’s troubling if the only way people know of the debate is through the newspaper, particularly if you suspect media bias. You could spend two hours debating and all that gets reported is one or two exchanges where you don’t come off particularly well.

More televised debates would be better, but not too many. I think most people can agree twenty Republican Presidential Debates was overkill. Probably around three televised debates would be good, along with a few others on the radio, via Internet video, podcast, or if one wants to get really high tech, through AOL Instant Messenger Chat.

As for the “Odd Couple” Debates, I think they serve a different time in politics that, quite sadly, has passed.

Serving the community is great, but we did people who have a heart to serve the community, not people being forced. I also see little reason for government to set the priorities for what this service should like and what it should do.  That’s not government’s role. Nor is it government’s role to dictate the schedule of every middle schooler as if bureaucrats know what’s going on in every child’s life.

I’m not a statist. I do not worship government as God and believe that all solutions from there. They don’t. They should flow out from the grassroots and the hearts of people who think that the places they live are worth serving, loving, and fight for. If all we can produce our Barack Obama’s forced volunteers or his $40 per hour paid forced volunteers (double oxymoron there) than we’re just re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic, as our underlying culture is doomed.

This rhetoric has been successful in many places and is continuing to be used. In my own home state of Idaho, Congressional Candidate Walt Minnick declares, “As a Congressman I will demand that the federal government balance its budget.” Great, Walt, but what does the candidate you endorsed for President say? Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee for the Presidency, when asked about Senator John McCain’s (AZ) pledge to balance the budget in four years, Obama not only stated it wouldn’t happen, but that there were so many needed “investments” (Democrat-speak for new spending) that he couldn’t promise the deficit would even be lower four years from now than it is today.

Barack Obama may have audacity, but he’s not audacious enough to claim he’ll balance the budget. He’s proposed $343.6 billion in new spending according to the latest calculation of the costs of his campaign promises by the National Taxpayer’s Union. Given the massive spending he proposes, he can’t even reduce the deficit with his proposal to raise taxes and bring back Carteresque “windfall profits” taxes on oil companies.

Democrats, in their criticisms of Republican deficits, have attacked the Bush tax cuts, even though, under Bush, revenues have actually increased. They’ve done nothing about spending and made few, if any, efforts at reforming the out of control earmarks process. The solution offered by Barack Obama is more of the same: Raise taxes and, rather than balancing the budget, raise spending even higher. That’s odd. The Democrats’ version of fiscal conservatism sure looks a lot like “tax and spend.”

Why can’t Democrats be honest about what they want? Because, while conservative ideas are not popular with the present Republican leadership, they are popular with Americans, so Democrats borrow the language.

By the way, Minnick is challenging Congressman Bill Sali (R-ID), who got a 100% rating from the Conservative Union, an A from the National Taxpayers Union, and was one of the most fiscally conservative members in Congress according to Club for Growth ratings. We’ve been given a choice between a proven Conservative who has actually stood up against over-spending (even when it could politically hurt him) and a challenger who talks about the dangers of deficits while the leader of his party declares his undying loyalty to tax and spend policies. For voters in Idaho’s 1^st District, the choice couldn’t be clearer.

Clarification of Last Column

In my last column on Obama’s paternalistic community service plan, my hometown paper, the Idaho Statesman took me to task on two points.

First, they argued that the total number of hours that Senator Obama proposes students work adds up to about 5 week rather than 17. Indeed, the total forced volunteer hours adds up to 700 hours, or 29.16 days. Where did I get this allegedly misleading information?

From Senator Obama, who, in his Denver Speech stated, “This means that, by the time you graduate college, you’ll have done 17 weeks of service.” The 17 week figure came from Senator Obama. While I’d like to claim that I found some new way in which Senator Obama deceived voters, I don’t think that’s the case. Senator Obama simply calculated weeks worked by dividing by 40 hours rather than by 168 waking hours, thus giving us the result of 17.5 weeks worked.

It was further pointed out that I failed to reference the fact that, for college students, Obama would pay out $4000 per year in tax credits for their service.  Fair enough. So, in college, Obama is paying $40 an hour for forced volunteer service. In some states, attorneys don’t earn that much. Also, will this make them willing volunteers when no one is forcing and/or bribing them to do it? My original point remains.

Perhaps this clarification goes well with a column on the fiscal irresponsibility and how Obama will send our nation further into debt. Please also note for the 300 hours of community service in middle and high school, students are paid nothing, which, from reading the Statesman, is quite an unclear point.

Imagine your city council enacts controversial legislation with no public notice despite city employees telling concerned citizens that before any action was taken, they’d read about it in the paper. Imagine that your city continues to refuse to hold a public hearing despite the uproar and you sue. The judge not only finds against you, but orders you to pay $10,000 in legal fees.

Your city tries to thwart your every effort to get your issue on the ballot, using a long and frivolous legal battle to strain your resources. The State Supreme Court grants you your day at the voting booth. You opt not to ask for attorney’s fees from your city, choosing not to burden taxpayers with the costs of the foolish policy of the people they elected.

Due to the national political situation and voter fatigue brought about by the city’s delaying tactics, you lose your vote at the polls. You accept defeat even though you don’t like it. You move on with your life.

In 2007, in a light turnout election the Mayor is re-elected by a whopping 19.2% of the registered voters in your city.

Now, it’s been fifty months since the ruling requiring you to pay, but the city has never made an attempt to collect, perhaps thinking better of a policy that was widely seen as mean-spirited, and reacting to your gracious move not to demand they pay your fees.

You then receive a letter dated four days prior informing you that there’s a lien on your house and that that you have less than three weeks to produce more than $10,000 or face a government attempt to seize your property to satisfy your debt. You then find out that your city placed a lien on your house four years previously and by the way, didn’t bother to tell you.

Such a nightmare scenario need not be imagined by two conservative activists in the City of Boise.

The City decided to remove a Ten Commandments monument from a Boise City park on the pretext of a threatened lawsuit by fringe hatemonger Fred Phelps. Though there were strong feelings on both sides, and the community wanted to have its say, the city instead tried to avoid controversy by reaching a closed door deal and then putting an item on the agenda that was vague to outsiders. Rather than mentioning a “Ten Commandments Monument” it instead cited it as a “Fraternal Order of Eagles Monument.”

Most people didn’t know what a Fraternal Order of Eagles Monument was and the motion was slipped through by underhanded politicians, who offered nearly 40 years of Boise history up as a sacrifice to a hateful out of state extremist. Mayors of nearby communities did the right thing and told Phelps in slightly more official terms to go jump in the lake.

Reverend Bryan Fischer, a Parks and Recreation Commissioner filed suit against the city, along with pro-life stalwart Brandi Swindell. The case was thrown out of court and the city asked for court costs from its citizens, and was granted more than $10,000, which they did not attempt to collect for four years.

Fischer, Swindell, and hundreds of grassroots activists stood against the capriciousness of Boise Mayor Dave Bieter for 70 days, until, at the end of the March, the city moved the Monument to a local church. Fischer and Swindell proposed a citizen’s initiative to place a new monument in the park. This monument, like the old one, would not be paid for by the city and would also feature Thomas Jefferson’s Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom. In the heat of July and August, volunteers worked desperately to collect enough signatures. Many wondered if ragtag volunteers could do it, but they did. The city responded by saying they wouldn’t allow a public vote on the legally qualified initiative.

This led to a two year court battle, and while Fischer and Swindell prevailed, justice delayed was truly justice denied. When the court’s ruling came down, it put a dormant Ten Commandments Issue back in the spotlight in the middle of a hotly contested general election where conservative money and attention was already divided, the conservative turnout was low, and Democratic Congressional Candidate Jim Hansen was running a turnout machine in Boise. Rather than continuing the momentum from the petition drive, the Keep the Commandments Coalition had to start from scratch, with many supporters having left Boise to escape its high taxes. The initiative lost 53-47%.

Life went on for Reverend Fischer and Ms. Swindell until , when they received the first notice they’d ever gotten in regards to the $10,000 in fees from 50 months before. The demand was as arrogant and out of touch as the original actions of the city, which were designed to avoid a lawsuit, but have already landed the city in the midst of at least two.

Who Are These People?

The left has its political activists, people whose only job seems to be to make trouble for taxpayers. Big environmental special interests, big labor, and the ACLU have their claws into every state in the Union. They fund people whose job it is to expand government and take away your freedoms.

They have fewer counterparts on the right for the simple reason that there are no counterweights to teachers’ unions that can coerce away the money of unwilling union members, abortionists who have a vested interest in wholesale slaughter, or big liberal foundations that seek to undermine the very system that allowed the prosperity that makes their existence possible.

Bryan Fischer and Brandi Swindell are some of those rare counterweights. They fight for conservative values every day.

Ms. Swindell has spent the prime of her life traveling the country trying to get the post-Roe generation involved in the pro-life issue. While many people her age are living out HBO and MTV shows, she’s chosen to be a voice for sexual purity and biblical values in a confused time.

She went to Florida to fight for the life of Terri Schaivo. She has stood for traditional values at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games. She fought for conservatives to get a fair shake in the selection of speakers at Boise State University rather than being presented a slate full of nothing but liberal speakers.

In recent months, Swindell has appeared in the newspaper far less, because her work has been so positive. Her long time dream has been to do more than activism: to help women in crisis pregnancy situations, and that’s just what she’s done through her new organization, Stanton Health Care Services. She’s personally gotten involved in the lives of these young women.

Through her involvement in the lives of these women, she became a leader in the fight for Idaho’s landmark law against coercing women into getting abortions that was opposed by the state’s extreme liberals.

Bryan Fischer is a former pastor and Senate chaplain Idaho families couldn’t have a more tireless advocate. After a State Constitutional Amendment banning same sex marriage died in committee in 2004, and failed on the Senate floor in 2005, he led efforts to educate voters about how their Senators had voted leading to a complete reversal of fortune with practically the same Senate in 2006.

Fischer has been out front on nearly every conservative issue you could imagine over the past four years, from discussion of intelligent design and opposing economically harmful legislation on global warming, to decreasing the burden of grocery taxes on Idaho families, to standing for the English language and against illegal immigration, and against Idaho’s star chamber selection process for judicial vacancies. There hasn’t been an issue of concern to conservatives that he hasn’t touched.

Fischer’s daily updates provide a clear conservative view of what’s going on in the world and in our state, which counterbalances the bias of the Idaho Statesman. On top of this, Fischer produces the Gem State Voter Guide (http://www.gemstatevoterguide.com), which is the best example I’ve ever seen of a complete conservative voter guide.

The last time Idahoans for Tax Reform prepared their list of the top 50 conservatives in our State, Fischer ranked 24 and Swindell 30. Then-1st District Congressman, now Governor, Butch Otter ranked 36. They set a powerful example for Conservative Christians in our state.

Making An Example

Why is the Bieter Administration going after them? Governor Otter was elected by only nine points in 2006, and the presumptive Democratic frontrunner for Governor in 2010 is the Mayor of Idaho’s largest city, Dave Bieter.

What it is apparent, both in how it’s trying to collect the judgment and in the request for the judgment in the first place, is that the Bieter Administration has been trying to make examples of political opponents: Oppose Team Dave and they’ll roll over you.

I want you to think for a moment about what that means to grassroots activism. The threat of litigation or a threat to their home will scare some people off from the arena or from taking on powerful people. City Hall is trying to strong arm its opponents into silence.

The Conservative Response

The normal Conservative response would be to wish Ms. Swindell and Reverend Fischer well on getting $10,000 together on their modest income, and to hope someone else takes care of this. Many may wonder, if they don’t live in Idaho, why they should even care.

There’s one very simple reason to care: politicians watch one another. If one politician finds a slick new method of increasing his power, others will duplicate it. Corrupt political bossism is a cancer.

You rarely hear of liberals losing their homes or being forced into crippling debt because of their stances for liberal principles. You do hear of this quite often about conservatives, who find their ideological fellows absent when needed. The conservative movement is full of sunshine soldiers and summer patriots.

In Bryan Fischer and Brandi Swindell, we have two rare individuals who have born the heat of the battle. These people are no summer soldiers, these are no sunshine patriots, and they deserve our support.

At the beginning of America’s Revolution, when the usurpation of government on the rights of the people was most evident in Boston, it would have been easy for other colonies to simply say, “Well, that’s Boston.” However, the cry of the Revolutionary era was, “The cause of Boston is the cause of us all.”

I hope across America, people see the danger of what the Bieter Administration is doing, and that its misuse of legal processes against its own citizens will be denounced. “The cause of Boise is the cause of us all.”

To help:

1) Call the City of Boise and politely and respectfully express your concerns. If you live in Boise, it’s important to remind the city leaders that if the Mayor wants to bring the city together, he should stop trying to punish his political opponents. You can reach the Mayor’s hotline at 208-384-4404.

2) Insure that this matter does not create hardship for these two great conservatives through your support. Any donation will help. If 1,000 people send $10, this will be nearly enough to resolve the issue. You can send checks or money orders made out to the Keep the Commandments Coalition, PO Box 140031, Boise, Idaho 83714.

3) Forward this story on to anyone who might be interested. You may freely distribute the entirety of this particular column through any and all means without any written permission, as long as attribution is given.

4) Pray for Reverend and Mrs. Fischer, as well as Ms. Swindell as they go through this that God’s peace and wisdom will be with them and that they will be granted justice.

TODAY: Clinton Supporter Calls Red State Democrats Second Class. “‘Superdelegates are not second-class delegates,’ says Joel Ferguson, who will be a superdelegate if Michigan is seated. ‘The real second-class delegates are the delegates that are picked in red-state caucuses that are never going to vote Democratic.’” [Politico, 12/18/2008]

Clinton Said She Was Winning The Big States Democrats Had To Win And Said “We Are Never Going To Carry Alaska, Idaho, It’s Just Not Going To Happen.” Clinton, on the states she has been winning in the primary, said “I have been winning the big states we have to win. With all due respect, unless there is a tsunami change in America, we are never going to carry Alaska, North Dakota, Idaho, it’s just not going to happen, but we have to carry the states I’ve been carrying, the primary states, the states that have to be in the winning Democratic column. And if you look at my vote there, it is the voters we have to have: People making less than $50,000, women, Latinos.” [Politico Forum, 2/11/07]

To this, former Idaho four term Democratic Governor of Idaho Cecil Andrus takes exception to this talk:

“Today, a Clinton campaign surrogate took it to another level and said flat out the Democrats in Red States are second-class citizens. This is a step too far. Senator Clinton’s surrogates are telling Democrats in almost half the states in the country that they don’t matter, and that they are second class. Senator Clinton needs to immediately denounce these comments and tell her campaign surrogates to stop taking cheap pot-shots at committed Democrats across the country.”

Indeed, to be a Democrat in Idaho, you have to be committed. Hillary’s criticism here is off-base as Obama has also won states like Washington, Iowa, etc. and it can’t be said that Democratic voters are representative of how a state will go. What Hillary seems to be suggesting (contrary to national polling data) is that Obama would have a harder time winning states. Simply not true. Red, Blue, or Purple, he’s doing better against John McCain than Mrs. Clinton.

It should also be noted why so many Red State Democrat politicians support Obama. They have a memory. When President Clinton came into office, Andrus was Governor and the Democrats held a Congressional seat. In 1994, both the governorship and that Congressional seat went by the boards. Now, it’s true that the Idaho Democrats have been taken over by their left flank, but Bill Clinton didn’t help, and it’s the same in red states across this country.

If Hillary’s the nominee in places like Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, etc., Democrats down the ticket are going to find an unwelcome running mate in Mrs. Clinton. If she gets the nomination, let the morphing of Democratic Candidates into Hillary begin.

Hefner: I have thought for a long time about running for a political office. I considered running for Nampa Mayor in 2006, but my family talked me out of it. I have regretted that decision ever since. Over the last two years, I have done some soul searching and came to the conclusion that our State and local governments really do a very good job. I may not agree with everything that they do, but over all, I have to give them credit where credit is due. My real problem is with the Federal Government.

Washington has lost its way. I don’t see any real leaders in Washngton. The Republicans seem to be appeasers and the Democrats seem to just whine and complain. No problems seem to ever get solved, just band-aids, then pats-on-the-backs all around. For what? For doing nothing or only staving off the inevitable until after the next election. I have wrote

MANY letters, e-mails, phone calls on various issues, only to get form letters in response, or no response at all. I think that I have some great ideas, and strong beliefs shared by many. We are being ignored in Washington, special interest, and lobbyist gets the attention. This is not to say that our elected officials haven’t ever done anything good for Idaho, they just haven’t been very consistent at it.

Our Country was founded on the belief that we would have “Citizen Legislators”, not “Professional Politicians”. I want to be a Citizen Legislator. This will be the greatest challenge of my life so far, I may not win, but I will give it my very best shot. I need to be heard! We need to be heard! Win or lose, I my campaign is the snowflake that starts an avalanche or others stepping forward and speaking out, I will have been successful. I feel deep down in my heart, that if I can get my message out, that come, May 27th, I will be victorious. The work will be hard, my comfort zone shattered, but at the end of the day, I can say “I did my best to make this Country better for all to follow”. I owe that to my children.

Graham: What would be your top three areas of focus if you were to be elected to the United States Senate?

Hefner: My first priority would be, what “should” be the first job of the Federal Government, and that is National Security. That means, control our borders and ports. Building up and preserving our National Defense. I will fight to ensure the armed forces get all the equipment and supplies that they need to get their jobs done, and return home
safely, and victorious.

Our veterans need the best care that money can buy after they return home. PERIOD! We need to stay on the cutting edge of military technology. This technology needs to be kept from the hands and eyes of our enemies. Spies and traitors should be dealt with harshly, and swiftly. China has stolen too much of our military secrets, I will fight to stop this from happening, again, and again.

Keeping our National Sovereignty is a part of this as well. World Courts and The Law of The Sea Treaty are two threats to our national sovereignty. I do not understand how ANY American could have even considered the Law of the Sea Treaty to be a goof thing for America. I cannot stress enough, that we need to take care of our troops. With out them, we will cease to exist.

Second, we need to get our manufacturing back. Manufacturing is the only enterprise that builds wealth, services only redistribute wealth. We are losing our manufacturing capabilities at an alarming rate. Having a strong manufacturing base, while it won’t prevent the normal cycles of the economy, it will help to stabilize the economy, and provide many good paying jobs for thousands of Americans. Jobs with benefits such as health care, and retirements such as 401k’s. It serves a strategic importance as well.

We beat Japan, and Germany with our brave men, fighting with our overpowering manufacturing base giving them the weapons they needed to get the job done. Today, cut trading ties with China, or close two major west coast ports, and this nation is at a standstill. What if the Islamo-facisists set off a dirty bomb in LA, and Seattle? Having our manufacturing capabilities spread all across our nation, will only make us stronger. Idaho has MANY great benefits to offer manufacturers. From good labor markets, cheap power, to a great quality of life, Idaho has a lot to offer prospective employers. I will promote Idaho at every opportunity I get. I believe in free enterprise, don’t get me wrong, I will not dictate to business, you have to do anything, but I feel it is prudent and reasonable to expect the money the federal governments spends, should stay in this country to build OUR economy, not China’s or Taiwan’s.

If the government buys it, it better be built here! Between federal, state, and local taxes, tariffs, and fees, it is safe to say that 80% of the money that our government spends would come back to it, if the money stays here. That just makes sense to me, how about you?

Third, would have to be the environment, not from hucksters like Albert Gore, or the UN, but from respected scientists. Don’t forget, my family and I live in this environment, I don’t want to see it polluted any more than you do. I haven’t seen any solid science, though, that point to mankind as being responsible for global warming. I am old enough to remember these same fringe, quasi-scientists screaming about a coming ice age, the “hole-in-the-ozone”, and now global warming. I see their campaign as only a way to relieve us hard working Americans of more of our cash. Want a “carbon Credit”? Plant a tree! But, Leave my SUV, pick-up, and motorcycle alone!

As a part of environment, we need to do a better job of managing our forests. Wild fires like last year are unacceptable. Thin the forests, and keep them healthy, enormous wild fires will stop.

Oh, mercy, can you imagine all the “anti” carbon-credits that last years forest fires produced. Forestry, many more good jobs that Idaho has lost over the last many years.

Graham: Could you tell us a little about your past community and political involvement?

Hefner: I was a volunteer little league football coach in Utah for four years, and helped for two years before that. I loved the kids, they are great to be around, and you learn as much from them as they learn from you. Since moving back to Idaho in 2005 though, we have been staying busy with our kids, and remodeling our house.

I haven’t been actively involved with politics, but listen, watch, and read all I can about our government. My family gets irritated with me in the car, “DAAAD,,, can we listen to music now?”. I feel ti is important that they know what is going on in our country.

On 9-11, 2001, I left work after the second plane hit the towers, and got my kids out from school. We went home, and watched news coverage of the unfolding events the rest of the day. I explained to them what was going on, and that we were now at a state of war. It was a very important day, I felt that they needed to be with us to be fully aware of just how important that day was, and is.

When I see a man or woman in uniform, or wearing something that identifies them as a veteran I always stop them and shake their hand, and thank them for their service to my country. I don’t do this for any recognition, I just feel that they need to know, I care, and I appreciate their sacrifice. If you don’t do this, I would encourage you to try it. I guarantee you, it will make their day, but more importantly, you will be the one who gets more out of that exchange. Giving is always better than receiving. I hope that answers your question, kind of a long way to tell you I have no political experience, LOL.

Graham: What is your greatest concern about the current state of the federal government?

Hefner: They are selling our futures out from underneath us. Such as the Law of The Sea Treaty. Giving away our sovereignty, to Mexico, the UN, the World Court. We have a divine document in the United States Constitution, and they are trampling all over it. It has to stop.

The Democrats are talking about socialized medicine, even though they know we cannot afford it, and I know that it would be a fiasco from day one. Look what they have done to Social Security. They ignore us about illegal immigration, controlling our borders, selling our jobs out to foreign interests.

The “New World Order” needs to be, “We may not like America, but we will ABSOLUTELY RESPECT her”. I want to see a Country like I did on September 12th, 2001, everyday. Courage, leadership, and integrity all start at the top, just like kids imitate their parents, American citizens will and do imitate their leaders. Fighting just to fight is stupid, but we see it every day in Washington. Democrat. Republican. How about American first, then we can decide from there.

Graham: Is there a political leader in Washington or at the state level that you can cite as an example of the type of leadership you would seek to provide in the U.S. Senate?

Hefner: Ronald Reagan and perhaps just a bit of George S. Patton.

Graham: What are some other factors you believe Idaho Republicans should consider when they go to cast their votes this May?

Hefner: I have no political baggage. I am what I am. I wish there was a way for every Idahoan to spend a day with me, to see that I am sincere, and not looking for just fifteen minutes of fame. If there was a way that I could effect positive change without having to step into the public eye, believe me, I would rather do that. But, I don’t see any other way for me to do that.

I could start a blog, but, with blogs such as yours, I would just be echoing what you are already saying. I feel that this is a way that I can reach a national audience, so that the nation and the world can see, that there are a lot of great people in Idaho, and stop judging us for the stupid mistake of just one individual. As I said before, Idaho can be the snowflake that starts the avalanche of change in Washington DC. I am stubborn, the more I hear “you are just wasting your time, running for Senate” the more resolved I become. I have a great sense of humor, and use it a lot.

I am smart and learn very fast. Like they say, “How do you eat an elephant? One spoonful at a time.” Well, I am using a big spoon, and eating my way to the top of this challenge. I hope to meet you all on the campaign trail, let’s make Idaho greater than it already is, and raise America to her fullest potential together. We can do it. Vote Hefner in May!

Thanks Adam for this opportunity. Keep up the good work. We need you in this fight for America! God Bless The United States Of America.

You can learn more about Brian Hefner at his website, brianhefner.com

 A car across the street was broken into with a baseball bat over drug money some time back. Then their children were sent home because of a possible hostage situation in a nearby home.

“And people are worried about this?” Karen said, questioning the call by other neighbors to oust the nearby New Hope Community Health facility.

It’s not rational, but it is the concern. Because, don’t you know if you have no criminals living in the neighborhood, there’s no crime.

The couple entertained two residents of the Stonehedge Drive Staffed, Safe and Sober home on Thanksgiving and recently dropped off a plate of “Christmas goodies” at the home’s door.

“They’re good people,” Tim said.

Former Stonehedge house manager Adam Garcia has helped New Hope open five such sites, but he was still surprised by the efforts of the Abbotts to reach out to the men — especially with the outcry coming from other neighbors.

“It’s just a blessing,” Garcia said.

Indeed, some folks who’ve really got the Christmas Spirit.

Once the Abbotts knew of the intentions of New Hope, they didn’t fear for their safety or that of their five children — all under 16 years of age. In fact, most of their concerns are for the men in the halfway house, who’ve been “thrust into a situation they weren’t aware of,” put between angry neighbors and city government searching for a compromise, Tim said.

“I think it was a mistake for New Hope to put that house there without telling (the neighbors). Now anything that happens in the neighborhood, they’re going to get blamed,” Karen said.

There’s a point there, too. New Hope definitely has helped make this situation what it is. Yes, they have the right under Federal Fair Housing laws. Just because they have the right under federal law, doesn’t mean you don’t let people know first. Karen’s final point is salient:

“These people are going to be in the community anyway. Why should we be worried that they’re in a structured environment where we know where they are and that they’re getting help?”

So, we really have a choice. We either allow prisoners a smooth path to re-entry into society, we pay the cost of keeping them in prison as long as we can, or we deal with increase recidivism by not getting them the help they need. This is key when we’re dealing with non-violent and drug offenders. These are people, you want to rehabilitate and see become useful members of society. Most of the people I’ve met who are in these type of programs (including for more serious crimes than New Hope covers) are genuinely changed people trying to start a new life. How ’bout we let them?

The Idaho Statesman has a breaking news bulletin on Convicted Sex Offender/ alleged murderer Joseph Edward Duncan III saying that the blogging killer is blogging again through the help of someone whose smuggling out long hand to another person to transcribe. For those who don’t know:

Duncan, 42, of Fargo, N.D., has pleaded innocent to three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of first-degree kidnapping in the slayings of three people in a northern Idaho home in May 2005. His trial is set for April 4.

Prosecutors allege Duncan killed Brenda Kay Groene, 40; her son, Slade Vincent Groene, 13; and her boyfriend, Mark Edward McKenzie, 37, in order to abduct and sexually assault Dylan Groene, 9, and Shasta Groene, who was 8 at the time. Shasta was rescued seven weeks later, but Dylan’s remains were found in Montana.

So, this is a bad dude, but this is the 21st Century and everyone has a blog. I found his blog. It took a little digging, for those bound and determined to do so, feel free, but I won’t promote it here with a link. I’ll only address some of the most salient points. In a post entitled, “Do I Feel Remorse” Duncan writes:

Yes, I feel remorse for every time I gassed up my car instead of protesting the war in Iraq.

Yes, the Blog is a twisted web of evil, disabusing Christian scripture, throwing in some Buddhism for good measure and trashing the Bible to boot.

Monday, he had an argument up that was all too familiar:

When will America learn? It seems nobody remembers the result of “getting tough on alcoholics” (the prohibition). It was literally the birth of organized crime in America. Or what about “getting tough on drugs” (the so called “War on drugs”)? We now have over five times more drugs in this country than before! So now we need to get “tough on sex crimes?” That’s synonymous to saying, “We need more sex crime!” It’s really no mystery why. If you take control away from a person who has an obvious need for control (a “sex offender”—just for example) then what do you think they’ll do? Give up? Not likely. They are going to find a way to take control back, at any cost. And guess what? Do you really think they’ll look for a new way to get control, or resort to the one way they know? Hmm, maybe if common sense doesn’t snap us out of our delusion history will. Since America started getting tough on Sex crime in the mid 80’s we now have more than double the sex crimes per capita than the 70’s.

Wow, this is like libertarianism taken to its most extreme in the mind of this psycho. The strange thing is that if he were being facetious you’d think it was satire. The sad thing is it does follow the arguments of the many people who argue for Social Libertarianism:

1) More drug laws=more drugs
2) More abortion laws=more abortions
3) More Sex Crime laws=more sex crimes

It gets worse:

And a very good friend of mine who happens to be a “serial killer” told me that he committed more sex crimes during the two years he was on parole (including killing three children) than he did in the entire five years he was not on parole.

When you’re “Friends” with a serial killer, that says something about the type of human being you are. He goes on to explain how those cops caused a lot of people to be killed:

In fact—he tells me that while he was not on parole he committed NO crimes until the police started doing illegal quarterly registration checks at his home (coming to his house to make sure he was complying with the law). He said that was when he started looking for control again—to prove (consciously and subconsciously to himself) that “they” couldn’t control him. So now more people are dead and hurting because some police chief decided to take it upon himself to “get tough on sex crime.”

Of course, if we just let sex offenders roam free range, we wouldn’t have this problem. Look at what those cops did! Yeah, definitely a child of our culture. Its always someone else’s fault.

I’ve got to tell you that upon reading this, I could not serve on the jury for this man. No remorse, no compassion for the victims in committing the brutal murder of four human beings, I’m left to conclude that the death penalty was made for Joseph Duncan.

Linked to Don Surber, TMH Bacon Bits, Jo’s Cafe, Basil’s Blog

I was standing there before the march and this guy walks up to me and says hello and calls me by name. I’m having an utter brain freeze as to who this person is, but pretend like I’m not and hope that he tells me. Well, as it turns out it was the Conservative frontrunner for Congress in the 1st District, Bill Sali and the topic of conversation for once wasn’t my kilt, but my blog.

He and his wife seem like excellent people, just from talking to them. One thing I like in political leaders is when they’re people who can get lost in the crowd, not folks who require an entourage the size of Idaho City to go with them everywhere they go. He was very down to earth, confident, and just had a great manner. I saw him walking and talking with people. He’s really been a strong advocate of the pro-life and pro-family cause, while being a strong economic Conservative as well. I’d seen him at a few events back when I was running for legislature in ’04, but hadn’t talked with him too much.

So, I go through the whole march, get to the Capitol and someone calls me by name and I turn around and who do I see but another Candidate for Congress, Norm Semenko who informs me that he’s a reader of the blog. He sent me a thank you letter a few months back on a letter to the editor I had in the Statesman on Gay Marriage and I’d seen him at a party for Brandi Swindell’s campaign as well as at a viewing of Justice Sunday II. I didn’t have much time to chat with Mr. Semenko as the event was getting started and I was hardly believing that I’d had this happen twice in one day.

Now, I’ve not said much about the race for Idaho’s 1st District, for a very good reason. I live in the 2nd District and don’t have much say on it. That may change, though, even it may mean choosing one of these guys over the other. Conservatives really need to get united behind one candidate with Shelia Sorenson in the race.

For those of you who don’t, Ms. Sorenson spent quite a lot of time as an Idaho Senator, and got lionized by State liberals for making sure that a Gay Marriage Bill didn’t come to a vote in the State Senate in 2004. After a nominee was chosen to fill her State Senate Seat (which she was vacating), she hemmed, hawed, and delayed resigning her seat and endorsing pro-life candidate Dave Bauman, who’d won the Republican Primary. He subsequently lost the General Election.

She said Aloha to Idaho and moved to Hawaii, but decided to grace us once again with her presence when Butch Otter decided to run for Governor. As you can guess, I don’t want Shelia Sorenson in office. We don’t need another liberal Republican in Washington.

We may get one with the division among the Conservative Candidates. In addition to Sali and Semenko, we have the following:

Canyon County Commissioner Robert Vasquez has led a heroic fight against illegal immigration and has gotten strong backing from Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Co.). In Washington, I know Tancredo would drive the liberal media nuts. A Hispanic anti-immigration crusader? His appeal is kind of narrow though.

Meanwhile, ID. Sen. Skip Brandt has gotten the endorsement of Fmr. Rep. Helen Chenoweth-Hage and has been a strong pro-life advocate as well.

So, the only one whose going to siphon away votes from Sorenson is probably Keith Johnson, the State Controller and that’s going to be because a lot of establishment folks are going to want to choose someone who will be more acceptable that Shelia Sorenson to without alienating moderates in the general election.

For the Conservatives in this race, its getting close to decisions time. They’re four great guys, but only one of them can win this Congressional primary and if they all stay in, its probable none of them will and I don’t think any of them will be happy with that outcome.

Bill Sali, Norm Semenko